Bjork is back with her sixth sensory album
19/06/07 12:29
By SAM LADACH-BARK
There are many things that are so unforgettable about Bjork.
While many of you may recall the swan dress or her Olympic stadium-size apparel, I remember the first time I listened to Homogenic. Or the music video for "It's Oh So Quiet." Or the shiver that ran down my spine after hearing "Oceania."
The sweet, petite Icelandic girl with a voice like a lion -- there is no turning back once you've fallen in love with her voice. If you own one Bjork album, you own them all.
Her sixth full-length album and followup to 2004's Medulla is titled Volta. Musically it's rather minimal, similar in fashion to early Bjork, a la Debut. Of course her blistering vocals take center stage. but in a few tracks they're featured opposite Antony Hegarty from Antony and the Johnsons.
Overall this album has a playful aura, but it's not without a heart-wrenching epic track. The opener, "Earth Intruders," became Bjork's second-ever single to enter Billboard's Hot 100 list. Within it we find marching drums and pulsating synthetic beats set against weaving screams signifying her dominance over mortals with twigs and branches. Similar to this new, playful power is "Declare Independence" and its screeching guitar and army of Bjorks screaming, "Raise your flag . . . higher, higher!"
While this new style is fun, it won't be the most memorable. Stealing the show three tracks deep is "The Dull Flame of Desire," featuring Antony Hegarty. It's a duet about passionate, speechless eyes, with Antony's soft, wavering voice perfectly complimenting Bjork's vocal strength as the song rises in intensity. Like many other tracks on Volta, trumpets and other horns paint a sleepy landscape. Similarly, "Wanderlust" uses horns as the backbone for a spine-shivering ballad about being lost in an endless sea. The horns on Volta are what the harp was to Vespertine and the Icelandic choir for Medulla.
While it's almost expected that Bjork display new styles with each release, Volta is not without hints of the past. The random bleeps and bloops of "I See Who You Are," intertwined with doleful trumpets, bring listeners back to Homogenic. And the crystalline sounds of harp chords on "My Juvenile" are reminiscent of Vespertine.
While it lacks the overall strength of previous albums (Post and Homogenic come to mind), Volta is certainly a must-have for fans. Bjork has always been consistent in her search to make every album stand alone. Volta is no exception, and many tracks bring her playful intensity to a new level. Go here to hear.
Grade: B
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